Click image for full resolution.

I am 57 years old and live at Lake Boga in the heart of the Murray Darling Basin. I currently work part time as a landscape gardener, as well as providing care for an elderly family member through My Aged Care and my son who has a disability. I am well versed in dealing with the challenges that come with the NDIS! My wife is a teacher and I have five sons, two who still live at home, one who has graduated with a Bachelor of Marine Biology, one with a Bachelor of Construction Management and one studied for a Bachelor of Theology and is a Learning Support Officer at Swan Hill College.

Most of my adult life I have been dedicated to aiding the community and in particular giving my time to youth affairs and personal development, even before I had children of my own. I’m also very passionate about the future of the agricultural sector especially after my family was given little choice other than to leave the dairy industry over 18 years ago.

My decision to “get political” came in a period I describe as a “perfect storm”. One of my sons has a disability and I was battling the state-based health systems in Victoria and NSW (pre-NDIS) to get adequate healthcare and support assistance for him. Around the same period the dairy industry was facing its own battles for survival. Farmers were experiencing a “green drought” because, whilst there was plenty of water available, farmers couldn’t access it. Water entitlements had been reduced and to buy more we were facing highly inflated prices. Meanwhile, the dairy industry’s guaranteed pricing for milk production was being stripped away under deregulation.

The prospect of more debt because of deregulation and water pricing, plus my son’s needs turned me towards politics and that’s when I found the Citizens Party. They gave me the knowledge and understanding to realise we have to fight to overturn government policies which are literally killing off the rural sector. I believe the government can do “the good” but that means abandoning their free-market ideology and following what the ACP has outlined for the future development of the country.

Speculation and financial gambling, such as what happened when water rights were separated from property rights, must be outlawed. As bad as it was for me 18 years ago, it is even worse now for farmers who have to compete with aggressive global speculators and environmental demands, for access to affordable water. We must support the food and fibre producers of this country.

I firmly believe that the ACP’s water, power and transportation projects, plus other great infrastructure plans, funded by a government-owned national bank, are the only way to revitalise regional Australia and return hope to struggling farmers, small businesses and the youth of this nation.

With the cost of living and housing crisis, inflation and interest rate rises and a drum beat for war, it has never been more urgent to consider the welfare and interests of the next generations. Young people need hope and optimism and vision for the future. I would like to see free access to tertiary education, access to affordable housing, and local training incentives especially in regional areas like the Mallee.

The ACP stands for these ideas and principles. Please break with the major parties and vote for me in the upcoming election.